PSD Board of Education changes upcoming calendar to include 5-day Thanksgiving break
Poudre School District’s weeklong Thanksgiving break, born out of COVID-19 and staffing concerns, will not be a one-off.
The PSD Board of Education approved a change to the 2022-23 district calendar Tuesday night to include a weeklong Thanksgiving break and starting the school year two days earlier — shifting from Aug. 18 to Aug. 16. The transition day for sixth- and ninth-grade students is also two days earlier, now on Aug. 15.
The decision was made after community feedback was collected regarding the break and, at least in part, for the same reason fall break was extended this year: impacts of COVID-19 and staffing shortages.
In November 2021, PSD announced the week prior to Thanksgiving that school would be canceled Monday and Tuesday in response to expected absences and potential staffing shortages that would prevent buildings from opening.
Moving forward, that’s still a concern.
“I think that to expect that a year from now all our staffing problems will be resolved and that COVID is completely gone and everything is back to the way it was three years ago is maybe just a little optimistic, at least for me,” school board director Jim Brokish said at a Jan. 11 meeting where the board discussed the change.
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During that meeting, director Kristen Draper, who is co-leading a student advisory group for the board, said feedback from students was that the two days prior to Thanksgiving were better spent off as time in class was often spent preparing for break rather than doing actual work.
When announcing this school year’s sudden calendar shift, Superintendent Brian Kingsley told families the cancellation was to "provide some opportunities for respite" to staff, students and families.
"Simply put, there aren’t enough people to provide the coverage needed to care for students across the district," he wrote, saying the district was anticipating existing staffing shortages would worsen close to the break.
During the Jan. 11 meeting, director Nate Donovan acknowledged the break was needed this year amid COVID-19 concerns, but questioned if keeping it was in the best interest of the community moving forward.
But community members seemed to think it was.
Aside from COVID-19 impacts potentially causing shortages in the upcoming year, survey respondents in the PSD community also expressed general interest in a five-day fall break moving forward.
The district’s calendar committee surveyed the community before presenting the suggestion to the board and found that a five-day fall break was a top three priority for most respondents.
More than half of respondents — of which there were more than 8,000 — were interested in a weeklong fall break if it meant school would start or end two days earlier or later; the committee’s recommendation was two begin school two days earlier.
The decision was approved as part of the consent agenda on Tuesday and passed 6-0; Donovan was not present at Tuesday's meeting.
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Molly Bohannon covers education for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre School District extends fall break for the 2022-23 school year
